How much technology has changed the city in San Francisco’s mayoral race.

How much technology has changed the city in San Francisco’s mayoral race.
The San Francisco mayor’s special election revealed the fault lines of race, ethnicity and economy. The leading candidates represent cities that have changed in recent years due to technology capital.
Host MARY LOUISE KELLY:
In San Francisco, the accidental death of the mayor of December, Ed, led to a difficult battle to succeed him. As Scott Shafer of member station KQED reports, the race provides a bright spot for the city’s racial and economic divide.
Scott schaefer wired: mayor lee died in the morning, and the 43-year-old chairman of the supervisory board, London brade, became the acting mayor.
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London BREED: I demand your patience. I demand your support. I beg your prayers.
SHAFER: Breed is a member of the local francisco-based francisco-based group, who grew up in one of the city’s most difficult public housing projects. According to the San Francisco standard, Breed is considered mild and business-friendly. This is not a good thing for liberals, who think her new high profile gives her an unfair advantage in the mayoral race. The director must decide whether to let Breed stay on, or change her to a caretaker mayor until the election in June. This has led to dozens of people like Brad Chapin who gave evidence to support Breed…
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Brad: I think we absolutely must have a woman of color as our acting mayor or appointed mayor.
SHAFER:…… And against her, like her boss, Hillary Ronen, he says Breed is in the pockets of the rich tech giants.
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HILLARY RONEN: if they don’t support the London breed, they’re threatening people. They say that if they do not support the London breed, people’s careers will be destroyed.
SHAFER: after a fierce debate, the director voted to replace Breed with another director, Mark Farrell, a white former venture capitalist who represents the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Breed supporters, especially African-American women, are furious.
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Unidentified female :(aria) your shame. Shame on. Shame…SHAFER: the entire series has hit a painful wound in San Francisco.
James Taylor: it’s almost like these white liberals who represent the black community are undermining the black female mayor.
SHAFER: James Taylor teaches political science at the university of San Francisco.
Taylor: you can talk to most of the older African-American San Francisco. If you mention reconstruction, they will tell you – urban renewal is black relocation. This has been going on for 40 years.SHAFER: as african-americans leave the city, Asian and latino populations are growing. But they are also feeling the pinch. City director Jeff Sheehy decided to vote instead of London Breed, he said.
JEFF SHEEHY: what makes us so attractive is what makes us a tech boom – it’s our tolerance, our values, our diversity. Those who build these people are being pushed out.
SHAFER: among the candidates running for mayor in addition to Breed, the other is a supervisor of an asian-american woman, an openly gay man, a former state senator. Mary Cohen, the city’s director, said the whole controversy was a distraction.
MALIA COHEN: we should get together and talk about homelessness and car accidents and many problems in people’s minds. But now race, gender and sexual orientation will be at the forefront.
SHAFER: there is no doubt that competition with San Francisco’s income inequality and the cost of living is very pressing. But there is a benefit to this political conflict, says David lee, who is active in the Asian American community in the city.
I think people have put themselves into this election in a way that has never been seen before. And for a long time, we will hold the first truly open elections.SHAFER: whoever wins in June will serve only the remaining positions of the late mayor, so next year voters will again decide who should lead the city for four years. For NPR news, I’m Scott schaffer from San Francisco.
[radio after clarification: in this report, we say that Brad Chapin is dozens of support the people of San Francisco’s acting mayor of London to testify. As Chapin said in a public meeting, he thinks that the agent or appointed by the mayor is supposed to be a woman of color, such as Brad. But his election in June’s preferred candidate for mayor is the head of another city lot.]